Utilizing herd bulls raised in our own herd, A.I. sires and an ET program coupled with a cowherd that has been productive, predictable and paying their way for over four decades displays our long term goals and devotion to cattle that we believe can survive, are predictable and perform under a variety of conditions and resources.

Our herd has been enrolled in the Canadian Angus Association's Performance Program since its initiation. EPD's can be an important tool. Although they are not perfect or absolute, as the convenience traits; fertility, fleshing ability, soundness, disposition, etc are not measured by EPD's.

The above traits - the ones with direct economical value are the ones, we as breeders use in our cattle selection. When push comes to shove, it's the ones that produce more - on less .... those are the animals which will "have a history" around here and are economically important to our commercial customers.

The South Shadow registered Black Angus program began in ernest in 1993, with the purchase of an elite set of thirty Jay En Dee foundation females from Don's parents, John and Florence Delorme.

The Jay En Dee Angus herd was established in 1963 and had long been associated with quality breeding stock. The Jay En Dee cows were a functionaly sound set, attesting to their longevity and value, most produced well into their teens.

The herd sire selection for your appraisal this spring.

Jay En Dee Blackbird 11W [above] raising a bull calf at 16 years of age ..... at 17 & 18, she gave us two A.I. heifer calves. Seventeen calves born to two generations of the Delorme Angus program.

An original foundation

purchase from Mom and Dad's

Jay En Dee herd, 36D was flushed twice and raised a natural calf every year until 2011 at 17 years of age .

21 of our cows hold "Elite Dam" status with the Canadian Angus Assoc.

These females can be found on the Diamond, Joyce, Errolline, Pride, Eileen,

The program is committed to producing moderate birth weights, strong maternal, cost efficient, performance cattle that are easy fleshing and require minimum maintenance while working in our sometimes harsh conditions of long, cold winters and hot, dry summers here in the shortgrass area of S.W. Saskatchewan.

Our appreciation for this type of cattle evolved over the years of working with our own commercial angus herd.

The working cowherd consists of approx. 190 head plus the replacement females. Progressive improvement is achieved by using natural service by home-grown bulls, A.I. sires and an embryo transplant program. The January to March calving generally uses 3 seperate lots and is watched under video camera with access to the barn as the weather warrants. Cows are A.I.'d, one cycle for a mid-January start to calving. The females are then grouped for a cleanup mating to one of three or four bulls.

Grazing

The pairs are moved to summer fields of tame grass (optimally) in early May. Come June they hit the native grasses. We've made the decision not to creep feed while at mother's side. A management decision that isn't practical for us as it would mean creep-feeding the commercial calves that share their fields. Weaning takes place early in the fall. The cows go back with the commercial pairs on native fields until the commercial calves are weaned. October through December they graze stubble and marginal lands with winter conditions dictating when bales are provided.

Health

All the cattle have year round, free-choice mineral and are poured with a parasite treatment in the late fall. Calfhood vaccinations include 7-way, IBR, P1-3, BRSV; boostered in fall. Bred females are on the Scour Bos program.

Wintering

The purebred breeding herd share a winter feed ration with the commercial herd. Early winter feeding is rolled out dryland grass/hay and greenfeed bales. As calving time draws near, they are sorted from the commercial herd, bunks are moved to their lot and a similar ration is tub-ground for higher energy and nutrient value.

The weaned heifer and bull calves are bunk broke on a straight roughage ration of dryland grass/hay bales. About 3 weeks after weaning we do try to pail feed home grown rolled barley twice a day for a few weeks, to quieten down the bull group. The most grain the bulls will receive is 6 lbs /head/day ~ a gradual increase reached at 12 mths of age. The heifers receive no grain supplement. Roughage ration varies depending on the severity of our winter; it is a weighed measure of silage, dryland hay & greenfeed bales.

The bull you select is the result of many years of dedication to the Black Angus breed by the Delorme family.

EPD and Performance Records

Herd Management

Show Records

We are fully aware that show records are used very successfully by many breeders as a merchandising tool. It is a path we haven't chosen to follow except for two local Pen Shows in Medicine Hat (3rd weekend in Dec) and Swift Current (3rd weekend in Sept).